Just Cause Protection

Just Cause protection is the most important type of job security that a Union provides for employees.

Non-Union workers in Ontario do not have any job security if their employer decides to let them go.

The truth is that without a union in Ontario, your employer can terminate anyone at any time without just cause.

You have heard people say that is not fair and that they are going to call the Labour Board. But, they quickly find out that the Labour Board does not deal with non-union workers. The Labour Board only deals with unions and companies which are unionized or in the process of trying to determine if a workplace will be unionized.

So, the terminated worker’s call to the Labour Board will be redirected to the Employment Standards Branch of the Ministry of Labour. There, they will speak to an Employment Standards officer who will tell them the bad news about what section 57 of the Employment Standards Act (the Act) states: Non-union workers can be fired without just cause, as long as their employer has given that employee enough notice or enough pay instead of notice.

For example: An employee who has been employed for three years, must be given three weeks’ notice, or three weeks’ pay instead of notice. The Act goes up to eight weeks’ notice, or eight weeks’ pay instead of notice, for workers who have been employed for eight years or longer. See more info on Section 57 and termination notice below.

No one gets their job back in these cases. Employment Standards will just make sure you received proper notice or pay instead of notice. Most people can see that without a union, the employer has the power to be the judge, the jury and the executioner, with respect to ending your employment.

Real job security occurs when workers unionize and negotiate just cause protection into their contract; it means workers cannot be disciplined or fired without just cause.

If a unionized worker is fired without just cause, the union files a grievance and can take the case before a neutral Labour judge, called an arbitrator. That labour judge can order the worker to be reinstated to their job, with full back pay. That’s real job security.

This is why workers in Ontario decide to join unions: because they want to know that their job is safe and they are protected by just cause protection. They know that their union will fight to get their jobs back if they ever get fired for reasons that are not just.

Somethings in life are worth protecting. That is why many workers join unions because they want to know that their job is protected by just cause protection and by one of the Largest Private Sector Unions in Canada, namely UFCW.

Employment Standards Act (2000, c. 41, s. 57.) – Notice of Termination

Section 57: Employer notice period – The notice of termination under section 54 shall be given,

  • at least one week before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is less than one year;
  • at least two weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is one year or more and fewer than three years;
  • at least three weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is three years or more and fewer than four years;
  • at least four weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is four years or more and fewer than five years;
  • at least five weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is five years or more and fewer than six years;
  • at least six weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is six years or more and fewer than seven years;
  • at least seven weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is seven years or more and fewer than eight years; or
  • at least eight weeks before the termination, if the employee’s period of employment is eight years or more.